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Sant Pere de les Puelles, Barcelona, Spain
Sant Pere de Puelles
Many of Barcelona’s squares in Ciutat Vella contain astonishing Romanesque landmarks. Time seems to have stood still in the heart of the neighbourhood of Sant Pere, where the church of the ancient convent of Sant Pere de les Puelles still stands. A history dating back centuries marked by renovations which haven’t taken away any of the charm of the original building.
The history of the ancient monastery of Sant Pere de Puelles dates back to 945 AD, the year of its consecration. At that time, it became Barcelona’s first convent of Benedictine nuns. Throughout its history, Sant Pere de les Puelles has experienced many changes in fortune that have transformed the Romanesque building, which was built outside the city walls. The attacks by Arab troops, fires, and the expulsion of its religious community in the 19th century sealed its fate and the nuns moved to a new, permanent site in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi in 1879.
The church has been remodelled and undergone successive changes, and now, all that remains of the original monastery – where the nuns, most of whom were the daughters of the city’s noble families, once lived – is a heavily restored Romanesque church which preserves some relics of the original one. They can be seen in the chapel of the Holy Sacrament. Only one of the two original bell towers survives. It is octagonal in shape and has six bells which can be heard pealing throughout the neighbourhood. The Plaça de Sant Pere of Barcelona, with the imposing presence of the ancient monastery, is one of the most charming spots in the old town, the Ciutat Vella neighbourhood.
Museu de la Xocolata, Barcelona, Spain
Museu de la Xocolata
The Museu de la Xocolata was set up in the year 2000 as an initiative of Barcelona’s Confectioners’ Guild, and is housed in a building of great historic importance, the former Convent of Sant Agustí in Barcelona.
In addition to disseminating the culture of chocolate and its associations with Barcelona and Catalonia, the 600 m2 exhibition space of the Museu de la Xocolata traces the origins of chocolate, its arrival in Europe, and its semi-mythical status. Visitors can find out about its medicinal and aphrodisiac properties, its symbolic, cultural and economic significance and nutritional value, something which links tradition with modernity and forms part of our collective imagination.
The Museu de la Xocolata also has a wide range of activities and workshops on offer for all the visitors and there is also the possibility to hold birthday parties for the little ones.
by barcelonaturisme.com
Mercado de Santa Caterina, Barcelona, Spain
Santa Caterina Market
From the Barcelona Cathedral, an undulating, brightly coloured roof catches our eye. Attracted like insects to a colourful flower, we approach to discover a food market below the roof: the Santa Caterina Market. The original design of the building, as well as the treasure trove of produce displayed on its stalls, won’t disappoint visitors to the neighbourhood of Santa Caterina.
The refurbishment of Barcelona’s first covered food market by the architectural practice of Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue was completed in 2005. The old Santa Caterina food market revealed a gleaming, undulating and brightly coloured roof designed to be seen from the air. The roof is attached to the building by a wooden structure, and a vast mosaic of coloured ceramic pieces, representing fruit and vegetables, boldly breaks with the traditional look of a market. The market has always been characterised by a desire to innovate. Santa Caterina Market was built in 1845 to provide the neighbourhood’s blue-collar community with foodstuffs.
The spacious, modern market building was constructed on the former site of the Convent of Santa Caterina, from which it takes its name. During the post-Civil War period, Santa Caterina became the main food supplier to the towns on the outskirts of Barcelona. People from Sant Adrià, Santa Coloma and Mataró came on the tram to buy food in this market in times of shortage. Today, the market is still worth a visit: the modern exterior ushers us into a traditional market with food stalls and restaurants which serve outstanding-quality produce.
by barcelonaturisme.com
Museu Marítim de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Museum Marítim
The Museum Marítim is located by the waterfront in one of Barcelona’s finest landmark buildings: the Reials Drassanes, the medieval shipyards which are a unique example of civic Gothic architecture.
Since 1929, the Museu Marítim de Barcelona has built up a major collection of exhibits which are illustrative of Catalan seafaring culture and make it easier to understand the factors that influenced the country’s maritime history. The museum takes us on a journey through the history of seafaring with spectacular recreations of authentic maritime settings.
Highlights of the museum’s collections include model ships, nautical instruments, ex-votos, seascapes, figureheads and maps. High points of the permanent collection are the full-scale replica of the royal galley used by Juan of Austria at the Battle of Lepanto, and the historic schooner Santa Eulàlia, a 46-metre-long, four-masted vessel dating from 1918, which is moored in Barcelona's harbour.
by barcelonaturisme.com
Museu de l'Eròtica, Barcelona, Spain
Museu de l'Eròtica
The Museum of Erotica, on Barcelona's La Rambla, was set up with the clear purpose of providing an educational and recreational centre focusing on eroticism: a classic theme in the history and culture of mankind.
The Museum of Erotica is the first museum of erotic art and culture, where we can see the development of eroticism through different artistic and cultural fields of human beings from an anthropological, archaeological and literary point of view, amongst others..The Museum of Erotica's holdings comprise more than 800 pieces of great historical value showcasing the erotic manifestations of a wide range of cultures, from a ritualistic, religious and recreational point of view, and spanning several periods in our history, from Greece and Rome to the 1920s.
The museum also boasts a major collection of Asian art and features an exhibition of contemporary erotic art by internationally renowned artists.
by barcelonaturisme.com
Museu de Cera, Barcelona, Spain
Museum de Cera
The Museu de Cera provides an opportunity to meet over 300 personalities, both real and fictitious, from all periods of history. Against a backdrop of authentic sets, audiovisuals and realistic sound effects, the waxworks come to life to tell us about their illustrious, and sometimes tragic lives which have crossed the threshold of time.
The Museum de Cera also has two unusual cafés. El Bosc de les Fades is a unique, magical space which recreates a haunted forest, right down to the last detail: trees, fountains, will o’ the wisps and other fantastic creatures.
The Passatge del Temps will captivate you with its cutting-edge design and comfortable atmosphere, while offering an innovative take on the ancient art of origami.
by barcelonaturisme.com
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain
Gran Teatre del Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu was built in 1847 and is a unique cultural facility in Barcelona and one of Europe’s leading opera houses. Located on the Rambla, every year it hosts major opera and ballet productions and symphony concerts. The building was destroyed by fire in 1994 and reopened in 1999 after a magnificent reconstruction.
The Gran Teatre del Liceu was built on the Rambla by Barcelona’s affluent classes on the site of a former convent. It was designed to house the Music Conservatory and with the main purpose of creating a venue where high society could go to see opera, the star cultural attraction of the time. The Liceu soon became a Barcelona landmark, to such an extent that its destruction by the fire in 1994 sent shockwaves through Catalan society. The reconstruction project provided the Liceu building with highly advanced technical facilities and stage equipment, and faithfully restored the original splendour of one of the most well-known opera houses.
The five-tier auditorium seats 2,292, making the Gran Teatre del Liceu on Barcelona’s Rambla one of the world’s biggest opera houses. The season of opera, dance and music runs from September to July. There are also guided tours of the main areas of the theatre, allowing visitors to enjoy every detail and the magnificence of its architecture. Highlights include the main auditorium, the foyer and hall of mirrors, as well as the Cercle del Liceu, a private club which is a superb example of Catalan art nouveau, or modernisme. It contains period furniture and original works by the painter Ramon Casas
by barcelonaturisme.com
Canaletes Fountain, Barcelona, Spain
Canaletes Fountain
The fountain is one of the symbols of Barcelona, a meeting place for locals and visitors alike where people also flock to celebrate the victories of the Catalan team, Futbol Club Barcelona, Barça. The Canaletes Fountain has become one of Barcelona’s most visited landmarks. It also conceals a history that is closely associated with the old town’s water supply.
The popular name Canaletes has direct associations with the sporting victories of the local team, Fútbol Club Barcelona. The followers of Barça have gathered here since the early 20th century. As long ago as the 1930s Barça fans, known as “culers”, flocked to La Rambla to find out their team’s scores. These would be written on a blackboard right in front of the offices of the newspaper La Rambla, which stood on this spot. However, the name Canaletes dates back to the 14th century, and refers to the water channels that brought water down from the Collserola Ridge to Barcelona. Later on, in the 18th century, a university known as the Estudis Generals was built on this site and the water jet was used to create a fountain.
The demolition of the university at the end of the 19th century resulted in the construction of the Canaletes fountain in its present form: an iron monument comprising four water spouts which are surmounted by the shield of Barcelona. The fountain is crowned by a streetlamp with four arms. A symbol of the city and a meeting place where many visitors stop every day for a drink of water. Legend says that anyone who drinks from the fountain will fall in love with Barcelona and return to the city time and time again.
by barcelonaturisme.com
Cercle del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain
Cercle del Liceu
The Cercle del Liceu opened in 1847 and is an English-style private members’ club, with its own unique art collection. With almost 1,000 members, the club comprises elegant sitting rooms, a lecture room, a restaurant and other services in a landmark building which it shares with the opera house, the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
The Cercle del Liceu is a wonderful showcase for Catalonia’s home-grown art nouveau, modernisme. It contains outstanding paintings and examples of the decorative arts by leading artists of the time, including Miralles, Masriera, Rusiñol and Gaspar Homar, as well as an important collection of paintings by Ramon Casas. Throughout the year, the club organises a wide range of events, including recitals, concerts, lectures, presentations, parties and testimonials which attract members and personalities from the cultural life of the city.
You can visit the club from Monday to Sunday at 10am as part of the guided tour of the Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona
by barcelonaturisme.com
Casa Bruno Cuadros, Barcelona, Spain
Casa Bruno Cuadros
La Rambla is an endless box of surprises. A box that opens and allows us to glimpse jewels, including this allegory to Orientalism, the Casa Bruno Cuadros, which used to be an umbrella shop of Barcelona in its time. Its style, similar to modernisme with its use of colour and the delicacy of its decorations, have made the Casa Bruno Cuadros a worthy addition to the photograph albums of many of Barcelona’s visitors.
It was 1883 when the architect Josep Vilaseca undertook the refurbishment of the Casa Bruno Cuadros and the umbrella shop on the ground floor. It was just a few years before the 1888 Universal Exhibition and Barcelona was in the throes of expansion, with interesting buildings being built all over the city. The Catalan home-grown art-nouveau movement, modernisme, was gaining momentum and, with it, the taste for Oriental decorations. The Casa Bruno Cuadros of Barcelona, known by locals as the Casa dels Paraigües (House of Umbrellas) is an example.
Vilaseca combined the prior style of modernisme with all kinds of architectural elements inspired by other cultures in an eclectic building which amazes everyone who walks along La Rambla. The Casa Bruno Cuadros’s balconies and the top-floor gallery are replete with Egyptian imagery. The façade features elaborate sgraffito work and stained-glass windows as well as reliefs of umbrellas and fans made of cast-iron. Orientalist motifs impregnate the outer walls which features intricate carpentry, enamelled glass and paintings of people taken from Japanese prints. The Casa Bruno Cuadros’s most opulent decorative element is the ornate Chinese dragon on the corner of the façade. It was used to advertise the shop, together with the umbrella below it. The building was refurbished in 1980, and a bank now has its premises in the stunning umbrella shop of Barcelona.
by barcelonaturisme.com
Arts Santa Mònica, Barcelona, Spain
The Centre Arts Santa Mònica
The Centre Arts Santa Mònica is housed in the former convent of Santa Mònica (18th century). It stands close to the sea on an unbeatable site: La Rambla. Unlike other museums, the CASM doesn’t have its own private collection, but hosts over 20 exhibitions a year, most of them new productions, by artists from Spain and abroad.
The CASM has as its mission the study, interpretation, production and exhibition of contemporary art, with particular emphasis on Catalan art seen within an international context. The Centre d’Art Santa Mònica also hosts Arxiu_Dossiers: an innovative project bringing together dossiers about different generations of artists living and/or working in Catalonia, with the purpose of fostering research and bringing the Catalan art scene to a wider audience.
The CASM offers a varied menu of cultural events and educational activities geared to secondary-school pupils, specific art-related courses and groups of adults.
by barcelonaturisme.com
Parc Diagonal Mar, Barcelona, Spain
Parc Diagonal Mar
The Parc de la Diagonal Mar is a must-see for visitors because it epitomises the new Barcelona and is quite unlike any other city park. This ambitious contemporary work encapsulates Barcelona’s desire to become a city at the forefront of originality and sustainable architecture.
The architectural practice of the husband and wife team of Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue reached the pinnacle of innovative and sustainable architecture with their design of the Parc de la Diagonal Mar in 2002. Located in the new Forum Barcelona, on a disused factory site, this 14-hectare park is divided into seven large areas. Each area was designed to evoke different sensations. A large children’s play area, a raised walkway over water, the lake with sculptures which spray out water, the curved tubular structures, the giant central plaza, etc, are clearly defined areas which are linked by a common element: water
Water that flows through the raised tubular structure that spiders its way through the park. This moving line occasionally coils around suspended plant pots which are reminiscent of Gaudí's organic architecture. In addition to being the linking element of the jigsaw puzzle of the park, the tubes also convey groundwater which irrigates the gardens. A technological and decorative wonder which fits in with the sustainability criteria that formed the basis of the design of the Parc de Diagonal Mar, full of ecosystems and where nature is controlled by man.
by barcelonaturisme.com
Parc del Turó de la Peira, Barcelona, Spain
Parc del Turó de la Peira
There are parks that are almost forest-like. High up in Nou Barris, the leafy pine grove in the Turó de la Peira is filled with the scent of Mediterranean plants, and it is easy to forget, for a few minutes, that you are in Barcelona.
The Turó de la Peira neighbourhood was first established in the early 1960s in Barcelona, and encroached on part of a large area of parkland, which now occupies an area of some 8 hectares. The first park in the Nou Barris district opened in 1936 and was remodelled in 1977, using land that once belonged to the old farmhouse of Can Peguera. It slopes up the hill from which it takes its name in a spiral of circular paths that take us to the top which is crowned by a cross. The top of the hill can also be reached by a series of stone steps. On the way up there are landscaped grass areas and, near the top, the leafy pine grove. There are areas for relaxation, with benches, viewing platforms and children’s play areas, and the top of the hill boasts breathtaking 360º views of Barcelona.
by barcelonaturisme.com
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